South Africa: Language issues and challenges

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Speaking notes, Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor MP, at the Language Policy Implementation in Higher Education Institutions
(HEIs) Conference,
University of South Africa, Pretoria
5 October 2006

“Language issues and challenges”

Professor Neo Mathabe
Professor Chris Swanepoel
Professor Finlayson
Members of UNISA Council
Conference participants

Universities are leading agents of social enquiry and usually leaders in the creation of new ideas and solutions. I hope that this conference will assist in the development of a reasoned and balanced deliberation on the role and place all languages should have in education, and in the social progress of South Africa.

Our constitution asserts that all our languages have equal status. But in recognition of the marginalisation of indigenous languages in our past, “the state must take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of these languages.”

Regarding language in education, the Constitution states that, “everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable” (Section 29(2) of the Constitution). Further, it indicates that the exercise of language choices in education should not be in conflict with considerations of equity and redress within the context of our shared values and aspirations as a nation. The Department of Education has published policy to give effect to these provisions of the Constitution. The Language in Education Policy (1997) and the Language Policy for Higher Education (2002) were designed to promote multilingualism in the education sector. Their aim is to ensure that all South African languages are “developed to their full capacity while at the same time ensuring that the existing languages of instruction (English and
Afrikaans) do not serve as a barrier to access and success.”

The published policy encourages the development of indigenous African languages as mediums of instruction in the higher education system, alongside English and Afrikaans. In 2003, the Ministry appointed a Ministerial Committee, chaired by Professor Njabulo Ndebele, to provide advice for the development and use of African indigenous languages as mediums of instructions in higher education. The committee report made a startling but not surprising finding that the future of African languages as mediums of instruction is bleak if nothing is done immediately. It recommended development of a “well co-ordinated, long-range national plan that would work at national, provincial and local levels to provide adequate resources and support for indigenous African languages.”

Certainly, the success of such a plan would require systemic under-girding by the entire schooling system and the enhanced public and social use of indigenous African languages in the daily lives of South Africans. The committee also recommended that each tertiary institution in South Africa should identify an indigenous African language of choice for initial development as medium of instruction.
Where the language of choice is a particular regionally dominant language, Higher Education Institutions in that region should utilise a regional approach.

I am pleased that a number of universities have responded positively to the language policy for higher education and some of the recommendations made by the Ministerial Committee and have developed and revised their institutional language policies to align them with the national policy. I continue to engage with stakeholders and role-players on language issues, so as to seek ways of finding a better and more effective implementation of our language policy.

On 31 July this year the Department of Education hosted a language colloquium in Cape Town. At the colloquium concern was expressed over the slow implementation of language policy and over a variety of barriers to its implementation. There was consensus that the current school language policy (1997) should be retained and that measures should be taken to ensure its implementation. Two messages, which came out loud and clear from the various inputs, were the following:

* that the Department of Education needs to encourage mother-tongue education for at least six-years
* that higher education needs to play an active role in developing and promoting the learning and teaching of indigenous languages.

As a result of the colloquium, the department undertook to develop a plan to implement the language policy. The plan will focus on the following areas of intervention:

(a) A national six-year mother tongue education programme aimed at using learners’ home languages as mediums of instruction in the foundation and intermediate phase. In this regard, the programme will make a distinction between schools serving uni-lingual and multi-lingual learner populations.

(b) A national general and further education second language programme.

(c) A national indigenous language learning programme that will focus on the compulsory achievement of communicative competence in an indigenous language by all learners. This will also incorporate the role of provinces in developing and promoting the learning of languages that are official in those provinces.

(d) A national programme to make available to learners all external assessment tools in the national Senior Certificate and later in grade
9 and systemic evaluation at grades 3 and 6 in indigenous languages.

The aim of this component of the implementation plan is to assist learners who are currently learning in a second language to understand the assessment instruments better.

(e) A national programme to revitalise the teaching and learning of indigenous languages in higher education institutions. This will focus on supporting the learning of the languages in all undergraduate programmes and also in teacher-education programmes.

(f) Launching a vigorous information and advocacy aimed at assisting parents and learners to make informed language decisions.

(g) The development of capacity at all levels of the system to implement all aspects of the language in education policy. This requires a focus on the development of the language support services of school district teams and the provision of support for school management teams and school governing bodies to implement the language in education policy.

With respect to the higher education sector, the language policy for higher education will guide activities in this area. A number of initiatives have been taken and are being planned to realise the objectives of the policy.

As part of our initiative to promote multilingualism in higher education, the Department of Education supports a number of pilot projects under the South African-Norway Tertiary Education Development programme. The focus of the pilot project is promoting multilingual proficiency for academic staff and students registered in service disciplines such as social work, law, nursing, medicine and other health sciences. Support is also provided for academic tutorials conducted in indigenous languages.

We are aware that these interventions are not enough to address the huge challenges that we face. However, we believe that they make a valuable contribution that higher education institutions can build on and consolidate to ensure that we create an environment where multilingualism will become a reality, not in the residences alone but in the lecture halls as well.

Indeed, the future of South African languages as areas of academic study and research is a matter of pressing concern for all of us. The role of language and access to language skills is critical to enabling individuals to realise their full potential to participate in and contribute to the social, cultural and intellectual life of the South African society.

I hope that by the end of this conference you will be able to make some suggestions as to how we can move faster towards creating and consolidating a multilingual environment in our higher education institutions.

Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Education
5 October 2006

Namibia:Language policy in schools

An article seen on All Africa.com

The Education Corner

New Era (Windhoek)
NEWS
24 September 2007
Posted to the web 24 September 2007

By Toivo Mvula

The Language Policy was developed to guide Namibian schools on how national languages should be taught in schools, to promote the cultural identity of learners through the use of their mother tongue as a medium of instruction in Grades 1-3 and to ensure that English is taught as the medium of instruction from Grade 4 and upwards.

What does the Language Policy state?

The Language Policy states that schools should teach learners in Grade One to Grade Three in their mother-tongue. Grade Four is to be regarded as a transitional year where schools start to switch from mother tongue as a medium of instruction to English as a medium of instruction.

What does this mean?

This means that, as from Grade Four, the mother-tongue becomes a subject and learners will be taught in English; i.e. other subjects will be taught in English.

Is the policy being fully implemented?

No. Although the policy states that learners should be taught in their mother tongue from Grade 1 to Grade 3, this has not happened and is not being done all over the country. Many schools also do not offer Namibian indigenous languages as subjects from Grade 4 until Grade 12.

Why is a mother tongue important?

Research has shown that being taught in one’s mother tongue at an early age helps you to make sense of what you are being taught in order to help you to conceptualise better and acquire writing and reading skills which are best acquired in the early years of schooling.

Teaching mother tongue in schools also helps to promote the language and cultural identity of learners.

What about English?

English is the official language of Namibia. The Language Policy states that English should be compulsory from Grade One to Grade Twelve.

- From Grade 1 - 3 = as a subject.

- From Grade 4 - 12 = as a subject and as the medium of instruction.

The Policy also states that, ideally, learners should study at least two languages as subjects from Grade 1 to Grade 12 and one of them must be English.

- The Education Column is a column that was created by the Ministry of Education to highlight educational issues that are of concern to its stakeholders (learners, students, parents, teachers, development partners, unions, and the private and public sector). For more information, contact the Public Relations Office at Tel: 061-2933358 or 2933366.